Couple slain in feud with neighbor called 911 two hours before shooting

Testimony concluded Wednesday in the capital murder trial of an elderly man accused of fatally shooting his upstairs neighbors after a months-long feud over dog droppings.

Chung Kim, 76, is accused of killing Michelle Jackson and Jamie Stafford on Feb. 4 at the Sable Ridge Condominiums on Abrams Road in northeast Dallas. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

The jury will hear closing arguments at 9 a.m. Thursday. Defense attorneys plan to ask the jury to consider a lesser charge of murder. They’ve said the feud between the couple and Kim pushed him to kill.

But prosecutor Herschel Woods said the feud wasn’t one-sided. He presented a recording of a 911 call Jackson made hours before her death accusing Kim of cutting the couple’s cable line.

“It’s not the first time this has happened, but this is the first time we saw him do it,” Jackson told a 911 operator shortly after 6 a.m. Feb. 4. Jackson and Stafford were fatally shot about two hours later.

Stafford had seven gunshot wounds, including one through his forehead. Jackson died from a single shot that severed her spinal cord, according to medical examiner testimony Wednesday. Their child, who was 2 months old and who now lives with Jackson’s mother, was unharmed.

Officers didn’t see any injuries on Kim when he was arrested shortly after the slayings, Dallas police Detective Phil Gordon testified.

Family members of the victims also testified Wednesday. Stafford’s cousin, Kevin Brown, said he was shocked when he heard about the shootings.

“I’ve never really had anybody like that get killed,” Brown said. “It has really affected me and my family.”

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